Things in Jax to Remove or Relocate

[La Florida]

Hello Forum.. I wanted to start this thread to see how many of you, if given the chance, would have something in Jax removed completely or relocated from where it currently sits. And how would your change benefit the city?

To start it off. I would like to see the jail relocated from its current holding on Bay away from the riverfront. Freeing up this land would provide a much needed link connecting the shipyards, bay street tc, sports district, with the CBD.

[95-Souf]

So you want to move the Duval County Jail from where it stands. My question is where would you put it. It

[RiversideGator]

The most important thing to move would be the homeless shelter [ducking to avoid to eggs thrown by liberals] to an area far outside downtown (perhaps at Cecil Field or something). And, while we are at it, enforce the laws against vagrancy and send those who are mentally ill to insane asylums. Lunatics/alcoholics on dowtown streets scare women and children away and, without them, you can never have a successful downtown.

[asonj23]

I agree with moving the jail, but I would have to add the Police headquarters also. A complex along State or Union would be much more suitable.

I love the Maxwell House is downtown. The smell is fantastic, but it may also be a bit more suitable a few blocks off of the river unless they could incorporate some street level retail along Bay Street. That would be the perfect place for a coffee shop especially when the Shipyards are completed.

Something I would want to move into downtown is the cruise terminal. Integrating it into the Shipyards site would be ideal.

[La Florida]

And, while we are at it, enforce the laws against vagrancy and send those who are mentally ill to insane asylums.  Lunatics/alcoholics on dowtown streets scare women and children away and, without them, you can never have a successful downtown.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree. About a month ago i saw someone groping the Marilyn Monroe Manatee statue. Eww.. Not to mention the countless people who rave and rant for no reason, talking to themselves.....I like the idea about the cruise ships, but i dont think million dollar condo owners would want their views blocked. I think an ideal place for the terminal to be relocated to would be the area between the Hart and Matthews bridges...adjacent to alltel stadium. Those two tower like things are there now (what are those by the way) and a rather ugly looking dock.

[RiversideGator]

I think a better location for the new Police Bldg/Jail complex would be in northwest downtown in Lavilla near I-95. That land is cheapest and not in great demand because of the interstate and it would be closer to the new courthouse (if one is ever built). I believe the current jail is at or close to capacity and the current police building is probably 30 years old and is an architectural disaster resembling German gun emplacements on Omaha Beach (designed by Broward, I believe).

[120North]

As far as the Cruise terminal goes, it needs to be East of the Mathews Bridge at a minimum and probably should be east of the Dames Point Bridge as well. The Dames Point is tall, but it still doesn't have the vertical clearance to accomodate the larger cruise ships. These ships are only getting bigger, so if you want to have a viable cruise port, you can not limit the size of the ships. So contrary to what we've all heard, it is the size of the ship that matters. (stupid, stupid joke...)

There are a few undeveloped properties east of Dames Point, mostly on the North side of the river off of Hecksher Drive. The cruise business is big money. An investment is a state of the art cruise terminal could make Jacksonville one of the permier cruise ports in America. It could dominate the entire Southeast US drive in cruise business. JAX is located at the intersection of two interstate highways and has an international airport minutes from the port. So it needs to be in a location that can accomodate the 2000 passenger type ships.

As far as the Adams Street Hilton goes...I would want to say move the Jail and Police Building somewhere else. However, given the current state of affairs with Criminal Justice projects (Court House) regarding substantial budget overruns, I don't think the public would go for spending any more $$ on a criminl justice compound. Look at it from this angle - its adds a little spice to downtown, seeing a bunch of guys in orange jumpsuits playing basketball inside of a cage 4 stories off the ground.

[crazy cuban]

first things first: police headquarters was designed by Bill Morgan... the cruise terminal: there was a letter in the TU on Sunday i believe where someone mentioned the possibility of incorporating the terminal with Mayport if the JFK leaves. this sounds like a very good idea to me... of course there are logistical issues, but i think that the terminal should be close to the beach, much like miami?? downtown could only handle the smaller luxury vessels, and those people aren't exactly streaming towards the first coast (or maybe they are the ones buying the $500,000 condos??)

you know if consolidating the police/courthouse/ jail is a good idea>>> we have 4 blocks of the city available, although it would mean that they would have to be multi-story buildings.... this would give JSO a new building (which they aren't going to argue against), takes the jail off the river...and makes the courthouse more than likely more viable. so everything would be centralized>>> and a block left over for parking???

the one building that should go>>> school board>> i mean come on, what are they doing on the river??? in what is quickly becoming prime real estate>>> they need to go to somewhere in the downtown core, or out to some suburban office complex!

out

[vicupstate]

To start it off. I would like to see the jail relocated from its current holding on Bay away from the riverfront. Freeing up this land would provide a much needed link connecting the shipyards, bay street tc, sports district, with the CBD.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

the one building that should go>>>  school board>>  i mean come on, what are they doing on the river???  in what is quickly becoming prime real estate>>>  they need to go to somewhere in the downtown core, or out to some suburban office complex! 

out

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

These are my two choices. The jail does not have to be attached to the sheriff's office, but if that is preferred, then they need to be out of downtown completely. Move the Sheriff's office near the new courthouse and put the jail in the boonies somewhere. If they must be located together, put them both in an isolated area.

Also, get rid of that huge telephone tranmission tower near the new courthouse site.

[Urban_Legend]

I agree. About a month ago i saw someone groping the Marilyn Monroe Manatee statue.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would leave the coffee plant where it is. I associate the smell of coffee with downtown, lol. I'd like to see them add a coffee shop/museum/factory tour facing Bay Street. And I'd move the jail and police building elsewhere. One judge mentioned incorporating some jail facilities in the basement of the new courthouse, when it opens in 2057.

And I agree with Cuban about the School Board Building. I have a feeling that it will be gone in the next 10 years.

[merlin]

So you want to move the Duval County Jail from where it stands.

[jjoshjl]

I don't see anything wrong with moving the Sheriffs office/Jail from downtown. I've only lived in one other city, and they had the Jail out past an airport (miles from downtown) and the sheriffs office Integrated in the Courthouse downtown. I never heard anyone even think that that distance was an issue. Also, (not too great an example) but look at Nassau County, if they can ahve the forsight to move there Courthouse/Sheriffs/Jail way outside of town, why cant we. If you dont know where it is, the Nassau County Clerk of Courts/jail/sherrifs is just off I-95 on a1a, the nearest town is Yulee several miles away. You can successfully move these type of facilities away from your core downtow, and still have it successfull.

[RiversideGator]

Moving the courthouse from downtown would leave a huge hole in the fabric of downtown. This is not a good idea. You can argue that moving the jail is feasible (and even a good idea to get that element out of downtown), but the courthouse not being downtown is a bad idea. You would lose thousands of people from downtown overnight and all real cities have courthouses downtown. Almost every county, by the way, has its courthouse in the county seat, which is the head city for the county.

In Nassau, they used to have the entire courthouse in Fernandina, which is the county seat. The new courthouse by I-95 is centrally located in the county and does not waste expensive land in Fernandina. Also, they continue to have many civil hearings in the old restored courthouse in Fernandina while the criminal functions have all moved to the new courthouse. I think another motivation was the people on the Island just didnt want the criminals coming to Fernandina for court. Anyway, the bottom line is Nassau is an unusual case and we should not follow suit.

[jjoshjl]

Sorry... My fault, I should have been a little more clear.. I wasnt refering to moving the court house as well, jsut the JSO and JAil..